Shellie Layne
Use it, or Let it Go
It’s a bit foreboding, scary, somewhat intimidating, disorganized and cluttered; it lacks urgency and I am guilty of having one. You probably have one At Home too. It is… the menacing junk drawer. The junk drawer is typically a small, all encompassing space resembling a pint-size attic. It is usually found near the kitchen and contains every unrelated item imaginable. The junk drawer is a stopgap for stuff we don’t want to make a decision about. It’s the holding cell for effects we lack the resolve to toss out because we believe they have some use or value, yet deep down we know that we will probably never actually use them. In many cases it acts as a tiny cosmos to store things that are moved from one place to another.
My junk drawer At Home has everything from batteries to garbage ties, birthday candles and glue to thread, recipes, expired coupons, scissors, flower food, playing cards, paperclips, bills from last year, sporks, lost screws and unread mail which landed there straight from the mailbox. You are probably shaking your head to the affirmative and can add to my not so exhaustive list. Nevertheless, the junk drawer is a quick and convenient fix for things we are not certain what to do with.
Making time to sift through, organize, put to use or discard the items in our junk drawer can be an ominous task. There always seems to be something more important to do.
However, problems arise when we avoid addressing things when they are small and manageable. The junk drawer that was designated to contain junk in a tiny area, with time and more and more stuff must enlarge itself or spill over into another area in order to accommodate more and more unusual items.
Isn’t it interesting how something At Home, like our junk drawer can parallel things in our lives? Often we are uncertain about what to do with what we store or internalize mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. What we watch, read, listen to and eat, the people we spend time with seem to have a use or purpose at the time, but then we realize that what has been absorbed may not actually be to our benefit and still we choose to hold on to it and it becomes difficult to discard or let go of.
Take time to investigate the items in your junk drawer At Home. You may find missing parts to gadgets that have been waiting to be put to good use, and you may discover that some of the items that are At Home in the junk drawer really don’t belong and should go in to a more permanent storage area… the trash. Do the same with your internal, personal junk drawer; those things that you took in emotionally and physically. There is only so much room and it is essential that you confront, make a decision and give priority and purpose to thoughts, feelings and dreams that are useful, and toss out everything that is just taking up space.
“I may not have all the answers, but I know the One who does.”
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